THE TOUGH ROAD AHEAD
WHEN FOUR JAISH-EMOHAMMED terrorists struck at the Pathankot air base in the early hours of January 1, 2016, they exposed much more than the poor perimeter security of the complex—abysmal coordination among the services at the apex level. The air base was under the New Delhi-based Western Air Command while a nearby army division of four infantry brigades was under the Chandimandir-based Western Command. The army, which should have swiftly responded, was looking to Delhi for orders. The terrorists were eventually eliminated by the army before they could hit their targets, but the episode created bad blood between the service headquarters.
Exactly four years later, India’s first chief of defence staff (CDS), Gen. Bipin Rawat, told the media that his job would be “to achieve more through integration”. “The synergised efforts should not be the sum total of the three. It should be more,” he said.
Gen. Rawat will now be the man the political leadership dials whenever a matter requires coordination among the services—a
